


Revelation

by sara_bocchan (LittleSara)



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Dragonlord Revealed, Episode Related, Episode s04e04, M/M, Magic Revealed, Or More Like, Pre-Relationship, and the knights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2018-12-31 17:56:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12137964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSara/pseuds/sara_bocchan
Summary: When Merlin fights for the dragon egg's safety Arthur is about to interfere and help. Then he hears Merlin's voice, and starts.“I am the last Dragonlord. — And I am warning you; Leave this egg alone.”---------Or: what could have happened at the end of episode s04e04.





	Revelation

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N:** Thank you to schweet for beta reading this on such short notice!  <3 You're the best! Thank you to the mods!! And thank you to everyone else who participated in this fest! <3  
> I'm really not in the mood for writing lately so this turned out a lot shorter than I wanted it to be... well, what what can you do? |D I hope it's fun to read anyways! :)  
>  **Disclaimer:** Merlin characters are the property of Shine and BBC. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.

“What do  _ you  _ know? You are but a serving boy.”

“I am the last Dragonlord  — and I am warning you: Leave. This egg.  _ Alone _ .”

* * *

 

Arthur was so shocked he actually stopped mid motion, his sword already halfway pulled.

What kind of nonsense dream was this? — because surely this could not be more than a dream. He had felt weird and groggy when he woke up, not even remembering why and when he had fallen asleep. Maybe he was still asleep then...?

This being a mere dream made a lot more sense than if it was reality. Arthur's slightly throbbing head and sore shoulder disagreed with that possibility, though.

But that would mean Merlin was a Dragonlord, and fighting to protect a dragon egg, no less. Arthur hadn’t heard the whole conversation but it kind of sounded like they knew each other. The fact Merlin knew exactly where to go suddenly made a frightening amount of sense.

Merlin and the thief must have worked together, must have planned all this and—

No. Merlin would never betray Arthur like this. Not Merlin. ...right?

On the other hand, this could explain Merlin’s strange behaviour over the past few days. The whole excuse about “looking for woodworms,” and the way he had insisted on helping Arthur pull up his trousers in front of the whole council.

Merlin had tried to steal Arthur’s keys, nothing more. And here Arthur had thought Merlin was trying to get close to him or— 

Arthur sighed and shook his head quickly. He had to focus on the moment - on the mission. It was suddenly suspiciously quiet. Arthur couldn’t help hoping Merlin was all right.

Before Arthur could as much as peek over the edge of the staircase, a booming crash sounded. Not even a second later Merlin jumped into the stairwell - the dragon egg under his arm.

He stopped, stared at Arthur with wide eyes and paled visibly. Arthur could see the moment he realized that Arthur had heard everything. That Arthur  _ knew _ .

Arthur could also tell that Merlin was desperately trying to find an excuse, some kind of lie to get out of this. It was in the way his eyes moved, in the small, unsure smile, and the way his lips moved without actually saying anything. Or maybe Merlin’s voice was just too quiet in the growing noise of a building collapsing around them.

A large piece of stone hit the top of the stairs, almost hitting Merlin in the progress. It dragged Arthur out of his frozen state. They had to get out of here, fast. There would be time to talk about what had just happened after Arthur made sure they survived.

He grabbed Merlin's arm tightly and started running. Merlin stumbled and dragged Arthur down with him, almost making him fall too. But Arthur wasn’t having any of it. Merlin wasn’t getting out of this that easy. He tightened his grip on Merlin, probably hurting him but not caring about it, and pushed on the way he could see the exit.

They barely dodged a few falling pieces from the ceiling. Arthur wasn’t sure if they actually dodged them or if Merlin had something to do with it, and he wasn’t ready to really think about that possibility.

Whatever the cause, they made it outside just in time before the whole tower collapsed. 

While Arthur was still struggling to catch his breath, Merlin already grabbed a small bag from seemingly nowhere and hid the dragon egg inside. He then proceeded to secure the bag over his shoulder and held a protective hand over it. Arthur didn’t even need to look at Merlin’s face to know he would fight tooth and nail to protect this egg.

He was a Dragonlord. Of course he would protect it.  _ The last Dragonlord _ , a voice at the back of his mind reminded him. Arthur wasn’t ready to think about what that implied, either.

“Arthur,” Merlin started to say in a slightly wavering voice. Arthur shook his head and held up a hand to silence Merlin. He didn’t want to hear his excuses. Not now, anyways.

“I really don’t want to talk to you right now,” was all he said before turning to walk back to their camp. The others were hopefully up by now, too. Arthur had quickly checked on Leon to be sure he was only unconscious, before running after Merlin. He had thought Merlin would be in danger, that he would need him. Well, how wrong he had been...

Arthur had only taken a few steps, when Merlin suddenly grabbed his arm desperately - quickly loosening the grip when Arthur turned on him but not letting go completely.

“Please, don’t ask me to leave, Arthur. I— I can’t leave you,” Merlin  _ begged  _ and startled Arthur with the enormous desperation in his voice. Arthur hadn’t even thought about leaving Merlin behind, or asking him to leave. He felt sad about being lied to, about the secrets unveiled. He felt betrayed, angry and hurt - but leaving Merlin behind hadn’t even crossed his mind.

Neither had thoughts of banishing, not to mention killing Merlin, come to him despite the laws Merlin had obviously broken. If he was a Dragonlord, Merlin must be a sorcerer too, Arthur knew that much. In his head the concept of Merlin and magic still made no sense.

Unconsciously Arthur had turned and now looked at Merlin's face. His lips were pressed together to a thin line, his eyebrows drawn down, and Arthur could see his shoulders were shaking slightly. He was scared. Scared to lose Arthur.

Arthur could see it in his eyes so very clearly. Probably because they were reflecting Arthur’s own turmoil so well. He really hoped Merlin couldn’t read him as easily, and at the same time he hoped Merlin could. It would mean that the Merlin he thought he knew until now was actually in there, somewhere. That not everything had been a lie.

Arthur squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. He needed to calm down, there was no way he could think about all the lies, and the obvious betrayal and mistrust right now. Especially not without overreacting. 

His lips twitched into a short, sad smile. When had he started to think before acting? Not that he was complaining. If there was any moment he needed to keep a cool head most, it was now.

“I don’t want to talk to you  _ now _ . We will talk later. When I had time to think,” Arthur stated. After a long moment of staring at each other, Merlin nodded curtly and let go of Arthur’s arm. He shuffled back a few steps, never looking away from Arthur, but obviously uncomfortable with the situation.

“If you have anything you—” Merlin started but was interrupted by Gwaine, Leon and Elyan running up to them, quickly followed by the other knights.

“Are you hurt?” Leon asked, before trying to catch his breath.

Arthur shook his head. “We are fine.” He quickly scanned his knights, making sure all of them had recovered from the sudden unconsciousness as well. Some still looked a bit pale but else they seemed to be fine, too.

“What about the egg?” Elyan looked at the ruins of the tower, probably debating if a dragon egg could survive under all this. 

Arthur, to his own surprise, didn’t even hesitate to reply: “Gone. Nothing’s gonna survive under all that.” He couldn’t explain why, but it felt right to hide the egg, at least for now. He told himself he could deal with it later if needed, although he really didn’t feel like destroying it anymore.

Merlin gave Arthur a grateful look when he thought no one was looking. Arthur didn’t look back, suddenly uncomfortable with looking at Merlin again. Instead, he continued his way back to their camp, calling out orders to the knights about night watch and getting more firewood.

On their way back, there was one thing Arthur couldn’t stop thinking about at all. The way Merlin had said that he couldn’t leave him. The way he had clung to him. The way it told Arthur how much Merlin needed him, too. He couldn’t help a small smile forming on his lips at the thought, and quickly ducked his head before schooling his features.

They had a few more days of traveling back to Camelot ahead of them. It was neither enough time, nor space to really think about everything that had just happened. But it would have to do.

Then he would give Merlin a chance to explain himself, to finally uncover all his secrets and maybe... maybe this wasn’t the end of their friendship? Maybe, with no more secrets between them, this was only the start?

Arthur really hoped so, because he couldn’t imagine a life without Merlin, either.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3
> 
> Btw: I'm always happy to receive _constructive_ critique - so if you think your feedback might help me improve my writing: please don't hesitate! Just don't be rude/mean about it~ ;)


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